Local businessmen buy Maritime Steel

(TC Media) The Maritime Steel Foundry looks like it has for months, but it’s different now.

Wayne Harris and Marinus Verhagen now own Maritime Steel Foundry in New Glasgow. ADAM MACINNIS – THE NEWS

The business with snowed-in walkways showing it has been entered recently, has been sold to Marinus Verhagen and Wayne Harris.

The pair had given a loan to the previous owner, Abbas Jafarnia, and when he defaulted it went up for auction on Friday.

Verhagen said it cost about $650,000 for Harris and him to get the building and there’s still about $300,000 in taxes owing on it.

They’re now looking at what options they have with the vacant building.

Jafarnia is working for a company in Ontario now and Verhagen said there’s the possibility that company might be interested in purchasing and reopening Maritime Steel.

But if that doesn’t happen, they’ll be selling the equipment inside at an auction in March or April.

“We might take some of the old building down,” he said. “We’d like to be able to sell the land if we could.”

There is little value in selling the material from the buildings Verhagen said, but the land could be sold. Some of the buildings, particularly the office building, are in relatively good condition and could be used.